Prime Minister's Office
English rendering of PM’s speech at the inauguration and foundation stone laying ceremony of various development projects at Barauni, Bihar
Bharat Mata ki Jai!
Bharat Mata ki Jai!
Bharat Mata ki Jai!
All the dignitaries present on the stage and my dear brothers and sisters who have gathered here in large numbers!
You all have come here in such large numbers to shower your blessings on us; I bow my head and greet you all! I can see that several people have joined us from Patna through the Video conference. My greetings to all the people present at the events of Patna and Hazaribagh.
Friends,
I salute that land of Begusarai, Bihar where Adi Kumbhsthali Simaria Dham is located; where Bihar Kesari Shri Krishna Singh had led the Satyagraha and the land that has produced towering personalities like National poet Ramdhari Singh Dinkar. I also pay my homage to Patna's martyr Constable Sanjay Kumar Sinha and Bhagalpur's martyr Ratan Kumar Thakur who have sacrificed their lives for the nation. I extend my deepest condolences to their families. And I can feel the rage in you and in the hearts of the countrymen. I have the same fury within me. This day also marks the death anniversary of the Jan Nayak Karpoori Thakur ji. I pay my tribute to Karpoori Thakur ji who had dedicated his life for social justice with the hope that his blessings will always be upon us.
Friends,
Today dozens of projects have been inaugurated, launched and their foundation stones have been laid for equitable development of Bihar. These include projects related to turning Patna and this city smart; projects related to industrial development of Bihar and projects related to providing employment to the youth. These also include projects related to improvement of healthcare facilities for every person in Bihar. I congratulate you all and Nitish Babu and his entire team for these projects. Had Bhola Babu been there with us today, he would have been extremely pleased.
Friends,
Bihar and Eastern India have the ability to not only compete at par with the economic activities going on in the western front of the country, but also has the strength to leave it behind. Just as the NDA government is launching projects one after the other for the development of Eastern India including Bihar and for modern infrastructure.That day is not far when this area will become an important centre for pushing the development of the country.
Brothers and sisters,
One of the many projects undertaken with the aim of rejuvenating eastern India including Bihar is Pradhan Mantri Urja Ganga Yojana. Through this scheme, the states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Odisha are being connected to gas pipelines. In the first phase of this scheme, the Patna-Phulpur section of the Jagdishpur-Haldia pipeline has been dedicated just a short while ago. You might recall that three years back in July 2015, I had laid the foundation stone of the same project in Patna itself. Extending the services of the gas pipelines, the Haldia-Durgapur LPG pipeline is being extended to Muzaffarpur and Patna, the foundation stone of which has been laid today.
Brothers and sisters,
There will be three advantages of this project. The fertilizer factory being started at Barauni will receive gas supply. Secondly, gas will be supplied to the households through pipes in Patna. Vehicles will run on CNG instead of petrol and Diesel. The city gas distribution plant has also been inaugurated in Patna. This will supply pipe-gas to thousands of families there. And the third advantage is, when the industries here will start receiving sufficient gas, it will develop a new ecosystem for a gas-based economy. This will provide employment opportunities to the youth. In a way, this Urja Ganga project will bring about a massive transformation especially in the lives of the middle class. With the expansion of CNG, the car owners will have to spend less and that will reduce the expenditure on petrol and Diesel. Besides, it will have a positive impact on the environment.
Friends,
This fertilizer factory of Barauni is in a way a tribute to the son of Bihar and its first Chief Minister Dr. Shri Krishna Singh ji. He had made numerous attempts to establish it here but due to outdated technology, it had to be shut down. Now that we have been successful in supplying gas here, we are turning it into a gas based one.
Brothers and sisters,
Apart from Barauni, the revival of such factories in Gorakhpur, Sindri and Odisha's Talcher is going on at a rapid pace. All of this has been possible because of Pradhan Mantri Urja Ganga Yojana.
Friends,
These various fertilizer factories will not only provide sufficient fertilizer to the farmer brothers but will also provide new employment opportunities to the youth. In this year's budget, the government has made an announcement of a historic scheme for farmer brothers and sisters. Under this PM Kisan Samman Yojana, about Rs.7.5 lakh crores will be deposited into the bank accounts of the farmers directly over the next ten years. This will also benefit the farmers of Bihar. Just imagine when such a huge amount of money will directly reach the rural economy without any involvement of the middlemen; then it will give a boost to the villages and the villagers.
Brothers and sisters,
When an industry is set up in an area, it creates an environment of employment around that area. This will benefit Bihar along with the entire Eastern India. Similarly, with the expansion of the refinery at Barauni, the refining capacity of the crude oil will increase and petroleum products will be easily available in Bihar as well as Nepal.
Friends,
Our government is also focusing upon connectivity. Today, the Ranchi-Patna weekly express has been flagged off from here. Besides, the electrification of Barauni-Kumedpur, Muzaffarpur-Raxaul, Fatuha-Islampur, Bihar Sharif-Daniyawan rail lines has been completed.
Friends,
We are also developing freight traffic systems along with railways in the cities. I congratulate the people of Patna as Pataliputra will soon be connected to Metro rail. This project worth more than Rs.13 thousand crores is being developed keeping both the present and the future requirements in mind. The metro rail projects are being developed rapidly. It will give a new speed and dimension to the city of Patna. Moreover, after the Patna River Front is developed, the people of Patna and the tourists will get to have a different experience.
Friends,
The vision of the NDA government's scheme and our development journey are moving parallel to each other on two tracks. The first track refers to the infrastructure related schemes - industrial development and modern facilities to the people; and the second track is - making the lives of those deprived, oppressed and backward sections of the society easier who have been struggling to get the basic amenities for the last 70 years. Our government has implemented several schemes for those brothers and sisters such as constructing Pucca houses, making their kitchens smoke-free, providing gas connection and electricity connection, toilets, providing treatment facilities and helping them to save on their medicine bills, education for the daughters and so on. The path of New India passes through these two tracks. Under the housing schemes of the central government, more than 18 lakh houses have been constructed for the poor of Bihar. Of these, more than 50 thousand have been constructed here in Begusarai.
Similarly, under AMRIT Mission, 27 cities of Bihar like Arrah, Hajipur, Bhagalpur, Munger and Siwan are being provided with modern facilities. Today the foundation stones of 22 projects related to drinking water, toilets and sanitation in Patna and other cities of Bihar have been laid. Similarly, the Namami Gange Mission will get a boost after the sewerage network and the water treatment plants get ready in Karmalichak, Barh, Sultangunj and Naugachia. Our cities will be clean and the water will also be clean.
Brothers and sisters,
Apart from gas-based economy, connectivity, smart city, or other such systems like cleanliness of river Ganga, the NDA government has also focused upon the health of the poor and the middle class. This is a historic day in terms of health care services in Bihar. New Medical Colleges will now come up in Chhapra and Purnia. At the same time, the Medical Colleges of Bhagalpur and Gaya are being upgraded. Besides, the work on another AIIMS in Bihar is going on in addition to the Patna AIIMS. After the development of all these facilities, the people of Bihar will no longer have to look for treatment of serious ailments outside of Bihar.
Brothers and sisters,
I empathize with the pain of the poor who cannot get himself treated because he has to look after his family and educate his children. In such a scenario, his health condition worsens. To free every poor of the country from this worry, the NDA government has come up with the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Yojana - Ayushman Bharat. This scheme has become a ray of hope for almost 50 crore poor of this country. Of them, more than 5 crore people belong to my Bihar. It has not even been 150 days after the implementation of this scheme, and in such a short span of time about 12 lakh poor brothers and sisters of the country have already been provided with free treatment under this scheme. Recently our government has provided 10% reservation to the poor general category people based on economic criterion. This has been done keeping the reservation of the other categories intact.
Friends,
All the work related to development have been possible because four and a half years ago you had elected a strong government that has the ability to take robust and speedy decisions and the ability to put those decisions on ground. And therefore, with best wishes I hope that these development schemes will establish a new identity for a New Bihar, provide employment to the youth, empower the farmers, create a new identity for Patna and will also fulfil the dream of a healthy Bihar. My best wishes to you all for everything! Many congratulations to Nitish ji and his entire team.
Thanks a lot!
Say aloud with me -
Bharat Mata ki Jai!
Bharat Mata ki Jai!
Bharat Mata ki Jai!
Thank you so much!